Superstitious Cowboys

Do you have any superstitions? I’m sure you do because pretty well everyone has them. A certain way you go about your daily routines and if something is a miss then it ruins your whole day. Some superstitions are so strange one has to wonder if they are even true. When it comes to superstitions it is my opinion that professional athletes take the cake, I am reminded of a movie with Jim Carey in it. Maybe you remember it, Ace Ventura Pet Detective. When the mascot of the Miami Dolphins (snowflake) was stolen the owner went on to talk about how this will end his season because snowflake was a good luck charm. He then went on to say that he has a player who hasn’t washed his jock strap all season because he thinks fly’s are lucky. Now, I myself have dealt with superstitions but I always washed my clothes.

Being a cowboy and riding bulls my whole life I have come across some rather interesting good luck charms. You can ask any old cowboy and they will always inform you on some cowboy superstitions. A few of the main ones are leaving your cowboy hat on the bed, this is very bad luck and should never happen. Another one involving a cowboy hat is leaving it upside down with the opening of the hat facing up. My Dad always said that leaving it that way insures that you are catching some luck. Wearing yellow in the arena has always been a bad luck color for cowboys as well as pink. When competing in rodeo you always hope to make some money, a sure enough way to not make this happen is competing with change or money in your pocket. With that being said I am reminded of season when I couldn’t ride a paralyzed horse tied down to the ground. I was riding bulls like a fat kid and I could not figure out why. So after one weekend I came home and was emptying out the pockets of my riding jeans and I found a penny. After finding the penny I removed it and went on the next weekend to win 2 rodeos with the same jeans on. That is a true story.

With competing in rodeo for 20 years I follow most of the guidelines when it comes to superstitions, I have also developed some of my own that are worth a laugh or two. One season when I was riding Jr.Bulls I believed that I could only do really well if a certain girl gave me a good luck hug. I figured it to be nonsense but went on later to prove it. This was so bad that when the finals came around I bought her tickets to all 3 performances that weekend. This of course was a mental thing but bull riding is %90 mental. Another funny one is never having a beer before I ride, some rodeo’s are at night so some of the other bull riders will go get a beer to kill time. This does not work for me at all, I have done this roughly 4 times and every time I do not only get bucked off but I usually get hurt. So from now on beer is for after my ride. One season I started shaking everyone’s hand who was riding bulls that day, this got thrown out the window when I started going to bull riding’s that had 40 guys entered. Some of my buddies have funny superstitions as well, I know a Saddle Bronc Rider who wears his wife’s fruity little socks every time he rides, my Dad had a good luck charm that he always wore some wear on him, I knew a bull rider who had to have the same guy pull his rope or he thought he would buck off.

The world of superstitions will never die, it’s how people re assure themselves that they will do well. They also know the circumstances if they are not followed. I honestly can’t explain how they work from one guy to the next but I do know that they work for me. So next time you are hanging out with some cowboys and you see his hat the bed it is in your best interest to correct the situation, and ladies if you see a nice yellow western shirt that you think would look really nice on your cowboy do him a favour and find another one.